Apparatus and method for annealing glassware



June 16, 1931. H. A. WADMAN APPARTUS AND METHOD FOR ANEALING GLASSWARE med Dec. 24, 192s,

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Patented June 16, 1931 NITED STATES PATNT OFFICE HAROLD A. WADMAN, or HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, AssIeNoR To HARTFORD-EMPIRE COMPANY, OR HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OE DELAWARE `.AIE'I.A`R.A'.I."U'S .AND METHOD FOR .ANNEA'LING GLASSWARE .Application le.l December 24, 1928. .Serial No. 328,152.

rlhis invention relates to a method and apparatus for annealing glassware, and it has particular relation to lehrs ofthe type erny bodying a tunnel through which a series of e glass articles are transported andin which as to relieve stressesV and strains existent in the ware.'

In some installations it has been found that an excessive differential air pressure exists at opposite ends of the lehr tunnel, so as to cause a current of air from the outer atmosphere to flow through or into the tunnel from either the discharge end or the receiving end, and thus to disturb the desired order 'or relation of the thermal conditions within the tunnel, this action being known ency to flow to some extent above andthrough the ware and to a relatively greater extent along the sides of the tunnel between the ware and the side walls, there being usually a greater distance between the outside articles and the sides of the tunnel than between adjacent articles. These sidecurrents tend to cool the side-most articles to a greater extent than those nearer the center of the belt.

One of the'objects of the present invention is, therefore, to eliminate the diicult/i'es above referred to preferably by setting up a current of a gaseous medium such as air of a force, velocity, and direction such that the drift is counteracted to any desired extent.

Another object of the present invention is to provide in a tunnel lehr a counteracting current of a gaseous medium as above Vdescribed which tends to cool the ware and which is directed in a generally downward direction onto the ware in the tunnel, there being also provision for controlling the volume of such gaseous medium.

A further object`of the present inventlon is to direct the air as above described onto the warein an even stream, the edges of which are spaced to some extent from the sides of the tunnel, soas notto accentuate the cooling "of-the side-most articles on the conveyor and to cool the articles nearer the center to about in the art as drift. This air has a tend-l the same extent as the side-most articles, the current of cooling medium supplied in this way serving effectually to counteract the drift throughthe tunnel.

@ther objects and advantages lof the present invention will be apparent from a reading of the following specification and subjoined claims when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a central vertical section through a lehr emboding my invention Fig. 2 is a transverse sectionvof such a lehr taken substantially on the line 2 2 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is afragmentary section taken substantially on the line"`3"-""3-fin Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary elevation showing the adjusting means for the nozzle as seen' from the right hand side of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a central vertical section substantially similar to Fig. 1, but showing a modilied construction.

For purposes of illustration, l have shown my invention applied to a lehr of the general type shown and described in the patent to Mulholland No. 1,560,481, granted November 3, 1925.

Referring to the drawings, the invention is shown as being embodied in a lehr comprising a tunnel 1 supported upon pedestals 2. The articles of glassware to be annealed are transported through the tunnel by a conveyor o extending therethrough, the conveyor being supported directly upon the heated floor thereof and being preferably of. an open work wire mesh fabric and driven by any means (not shown), for instance such means as are described in the patent above referred to. One or more heating flues 4 extends longitudinally below the tunnel and are supplied with hot gases from any suitable source,

as the firebox 5. Suitabley air inlet orifices 6 arel provided communicating with the. flue Aor lues `4 and are provided with dampers 7l fan 10 driven by a motor 11, or by any other suitable means, such as the usual stack.

For p;oviding for the cooling of the ware in the cooling portion of the tunnel and for controlling drift, I provide one or more nozzle members 12, two of which are shown in Figure 1. particularly in Fig. 2, and each comprises a closed end pipe Section having an elongate nozzle portion 13 which is radially disposed and which terminates short of the sides of the lehr, as shown at 14, for a purpose hereinafter to be described. The nozzle pipe 12 is shown as mounted in suitable bearing -portions 15 and 16 formed in the tunnel walls and is adapted to be rotated with respect thereto. For rotating the nozzle 12, I provide a member 17 suitably secured thereto and provided withy a handle 18by'which the nozzle 12 may be turned as desired, the member 17 being also provided with an index 19 cooperv able with a scale 20, as shown in Fig. 4.

Cooling medium Vis supplied to the nozzle member 12 through the lateral duct or conduit 21 (Fig. 2), the supply being controlled by a suitable damper 22. The pipe 21 preferably leads from a suitable header 23 which in turn leads from a suitable source of a gaseous medium such as the blower 24 (Fig. 1), which may be driven in any desired manner, as by an electric motor 25. "While I have shown a blower communicating with the atmosphere. and thus adapted to direct atmospheric air into the lehr tunnel, it is obvious that any other gas, heated or not, may be used and such other gas may be forced into the tunnel by any suitable means.

By a suitable control of the angular' position of the nozzle opening 13 by the handle 18 and asuitable setting of .the dampers 22, the gaseous medium flowing into the tunnel may be controlled to set up counter currents or gas curtains of such direction, velocity and volume as Ito control the drift therethrough as desired. The control usually de- I sired is that which counteracts the drift,

I than those nearer the center of the belt, I

prefer to construct the nozzles 12 as shown in Fig. 2, with the opening for the drift controlling fluid shorter than the width of the tunnel and being disposed centrally thereof,

so that the cooling eiect of the air will be directedl onto the glassware where it is most needed and the sidemost article will be cooled These members are shown more` at approximately the same rate4 as those nearer the center ofthe belt.

I have shown in Fig. 5 a construction genera'lly similar to that shown in the other li ures, but different in that the flue 4 in this figure does not extend to the exit end of the tunnel, but terminates a short distance beyond the mid-portion thereof, thev samewor similar methods and ,means being used to control the temperature in this flue as in the flue 4 above described and these means being given corresponding reference characters. The chief'dilerence, however, is that in addition to providing nozzles 12 adjacent to the roof of the tunnel, I .provide a similar nozzle or nozzles 26 situated just below the conveyor belt and directed upwardly into the tunnel. In this way I am enabled to provide a current of air both downwardly and upwardly which will be effective both for cooling the ware and for counteracting drift thro :gh the tunnel. The nozzle 26 may be constructed similarly to the nozzles 12 above described and is supplied with cooling air or other gas as above described through a branch pipe 27 from the header 23, the current of gas being controlled by a damper 28.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a combined cooling andldrift controlling means which may be applied to the usual type of glassware annealing tunnel and which is effective to control the drift lto any desired extent and simultaneously to coolthe ware in the tunnel, there being provision for suit-v able adjustment for effecting either of the two purposes substantially independently of the other.

While I have shown and described but two embodiments of my invention, I do not wish to be limited thereto, but Imerely by the scope of the appended claims, which are construed as broadly as the state of the prior art permits.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a continuous tunnel lehr for annealing glassware, a combined cooling and driftcontrolling means, comprising a nozzle mounted in said tunnel in the cooling portion thereof, means to cause a'l'ow of cooling medium through said nozzle, and means to adjust the angular position of said nozzle so that said cooling medium Hows in a direction at a selected angle with the longitudinal axis a.of said tunnel.

- 2. In a continuous tunnel lehr for annealing glassware, a combined cooling and drift controlling means, comprising a plurality of elongate nozzles disposed at intervals along the cooling portion of said tunnel and extending transversely thereof for supplying a cooling medium to said tunnel, means to vary the position of said nozzles to vary the angular relation between the direction ofl movement ofY the cooling medium issuing iso of lsaid tunnel.

3.4 In a continuous tunnel lehr for annealing glassware, a combinedy cooling and drift controlling means, comprising a nozzle disposed adjacent to and transversely ofthe roof. of said tunnel in the cooling portion thereof and having an elongate outlet' terminating short of each side of said tunnel, said nozzle being arranged to direct a cooling medium into the tunnel atan oblique angle to the longitudinal axis thereof, and means to supply a controllable amount of a cooling medium to said nozzle, whereby to counteract drift through-the tunnel and to direct the cooling medium thereinto substantially evenly of the transverse area of the tunnel with- -out causing excessive cooling of the ware adjacent to the sides thereof.

4. In a continuous tunnel lehr for annealing glassware, a combined cooling and drift controlling means, comprising a nozzle dis-- posed ,adjacent to and transversely of the roof of said tunnel in the cooling portion thereof andhaving an elongate outlet terminating short of each side of said tunnel, means to adjust the angular position of said nozzle about its longitudinal axis to vary the direction of a stream of a cooling lmedium passing therefrom into said tunnel, and means to supply a controllable amount of a cooling medium to saidnozzle, whereby the drift through said tunnel may be controlled, and whereby to direct the cooling medium thereinto substantially evenly of the transverse area of the tunnel without causing excessive cooling of the ware adjacent to the sides thereof.

5. A lehr for annealing glassware, comprising an elongate tunnel, means for moving articles of glassware therethrough, a muflie flue extending longitudinally beneath said tunnel from al point adjacent to the inlet end thereof toward the exit end, means for supplying hot gases to said flue to control the temperatures within said tunnel, means for cooling the ware in the tunnel including a transversely elongated nozzle positioned in the cooler portion thereof adjacent to the roof of the tunnel, means to vvadjust the position of saidl nozzle to vary the direction in which the cooling medium is blown intosaid tunnel, and means for controllably supplying a cooling medium to said nozzle. 1

6. A lehrfor annealing glassware coinprising an elongate tunnel, means for'moving articles of glassware therethrough, a muiile flue extending longitudinally beneath said tunnel from a point adj acent to the inlet .end thereof toward the exit end, means for supplying hot gases to said `flue, means disposed at intervals along saidflue for controlling"- the temperatures therein, means for cooling the ware in the tunnel including a transversely elongated nozzle positioned in the cooler portions thereof adjacent to the roof of the tunnel, means to ladjust the position of said nozzle to vary the direction in which the cooling mediumjis blown into said tunnel,and means for controllably supplying a cooling medium to said nozzl 7. A lehr for annealing glassware, comprising an elongate tunnel, means for m'oving .articles of glassware. therethrough, a muffle flue extending longitudinally. beneath said tunnel from a point adjacent to the inlet end thereof toward the exit end, means for supplying hot gases to said flue, air inlet openings disposed at spaced intervals along said flue forvcontrollably diluting the gases therein for controlling the temperatures -along said Hue and thus the temperatures of the ware in corresponding portions of said tunnel, means for coolin the ware in the tunnel including a plurality of transversely elongated nozzles positioned in the cooler portion thereof adjacent to the roof ofthe tunnel, said nozzles terminating short of the lateral sides of the tunnel, and means to ad nealed in a continuous procession through an elongate tunnel, controlling the temperatures of at least a part of the, bottom wall of said tunnel to control the temperatures of the ware in corresponding parts of said tunnel, and

blowing a streamof a cooling medium down onto the ware 'at an obliquev angle `with the longitudinal axis of the tunnel, controlling the angle at which said cooling medium is flowing, and controlling the volume of such cooling medium, whereby to control the drift through the tunnel and whereby also to prevent the excess cooling of thearticles adjacent to the lateral side of the tunnel.

9. In a continuous tunnel lehr for annealing glassware, a combined cooling and drift controlling means comprising a plurality of transversely extending nozzles disposed adjacent to and at intervals longitudinally of the roof of said tunnel in the cooling portion thereof, each of saidjnozzles having an elongate outlet opening lterminating short of each side of said tunnel, and means to cause a controllable flow of a cooling medium into said tunnel at an angle to the longitudinal axis thereof through the openings o'f each of said nozzles, whereby to direct-the cooling medium thereinto substantially evenly of the transverse area of the tunnel without-causing excessive cooling of the ware adjacent to the sides thereof.

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10. A lehr for annealing glassware, comprising an elongate tunnel, an open-work conveyin means for moving articles of glassware tgherethrough, means for supplying heat to a portion ofthe tunnel adjacent to the ware-entering end thereof, means for cooling the ware ina subsequent portion of the tunnel,

the last named means including a transverselyextending elongate nozzle positioned beneath the path of the ware on said conveying means -arran ed to project a wide, relatively thin film o -a coollng medium upwardly through 'the interstices of said conveying means and between the articles of ware passing throu h said tunnel, and means for controlling t e amount of such cooling air admitted into said tunnel.

151. A lehr for annealing glassware, comprising an elongate tunnel, an open-work conveying means for moving articles of glassware therethrough, means for supplying heat to the portion of said tunnel adjacent to the l ware-entering end thereof, means for cooling the ware in a. subsequent portion of said tunnel, including a plurality of transversely elongated nozzles positioned in the cooler portlon thereof, at least one of which is positioned adjacent to the roof of said tunnel',

and adapted to project a cooling medium downwardly thereinto, and at least one of which is positioned beneath the path of the ware on said conveying means and adapted to project a cooling medium upwardly through theV interstices of said conveying means and l between the articles of glassware, and means e'ective independently to adjust the amount of cooling medium iowing through the top and bottomnozzles.

Signed at Hartford, Connecticut, this 20th v 'day of December, 1928. l

. HAROLD A. WADMAN. 

